Improvement in sizing and finish ing covered ski rt-wi re



4of the skirt.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

W. E. FROST, OE WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO I. WASH- BURN ANDP. L. MOEN, OF SAME PLAGE. l

IMPROVEMENT lN SIZING AND FINISHING COVERED SKIRT-WIRE.

.Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4S, 764, dated July11, 1865.

` application- Previous to my invention the employment of what is knownas braided or covered hoop-skirt wire-that is, wire having a textilecovering of cotton braided over it by machines, in long strips orlengths,.which are wound on reels and afterward cut up into short piecesto form the springs in hoops olskeletoLi-skrtswas extensively employedin the manufacture of ladies7 skirts, with many and great advantagesover the old-fashioned method ot' making hoop-skirts-such, for instance,as the skirts having reeds or wires passed round them through continuouspockets; butin the employment of such covered wire some objectionsarose, the leading one being the slipping ofthe covering upon the wire,so that when the latter was cut into lengths for the hoops of a skirt itwas necessary7 for the operative to cnt the ends of said lengths orhoops a second time and double the covering over the end of the wire toprevent such slipping, and in this condition secure the said coveredwire to the tapes To overcome this principal objection to the coveredwire as made, I conceived the idea of sticking or cementing the braidedcovering to the wire by passing it through or coating it over with asize or starch mixture, which, when dry, cemented the textile coveringto the wire sufficiently to prevent it from slipping on the latter, andalso caused the article to present a more desirable surface, the napbeing laid with the starch, and the interstices of the covering beingpartially filled up, so that the surface would not catch the dirt somuch. This operation (at .rst performed by hand) and the result ofcoating or covering the braided wire with a size are made the subject ofanother patent by me for a new article of manufacture, in which it willbe found fully described.

My present invention has for its object to produce this new article ofmanufacture by means of machinery in which the covered wire is passedcontinuously from the reel or coil, in which it comes from thebraiding-machine, through the sizing and lnishing operations, and thenceonto another reel in ainished condition; and to these ends my presentinvention consists in causing the covered wire to pass continuouslyYthrough a sizing bath, or

mechanism for applying the size or starch tothe textile covering andinterstices between the threads thereof, and thence over and under rollsfor pressing and finishing the sized surfaces, at the same timesubmitting the ar-v ticle to a properdegree of heat to dry the size, andthence off onto another reel in a finished state.

To enable those skilled in the art to which l my invention appertains tofully comprehend it, I will proceed to describe the construction andoperation of the same, referring by letters to the accompanyingdrawings, in Which- Figure I is atop view of the machinery or apparatusfor carrying out my said invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of thesame at the line x of Fig. 1.

In the different figures the same parts are designated by the sameletters of reference.

A represents the floor or base upon which the several parts of machineryare supported. B and O are two metallic cylinders, which I haverepresented as being made hollow, and

supplied with steam through their journals from a suitable source byconduit-pipes d.

These cylinders B O are mounted to turn freely upon a supportingframe-work, E, at a distance apart suitable to the work and the room forthe accommodation of the machinery.

Near one end of the frame-work E is arranged. a small reservoir, F,which contains the starch or size, and within which is mounted, insuitable hearing-stands, f, a roll, G, which operates in conjunctionwith another roll, H,as will be presently described. The rolls G H maybe made of any suitable material, but I prefer to have their peripheriescovered with cloth.

I is a reel, which is mountedto turn freely in its bearings at one endof the frame of the machine, andJis another similar reel, mounted in thesame manner, at the other end of the said frame. The latter reel isintended to receive the motive power applied to keep the machine inoperation.

7c lm represent the covered or braided wire which is being sized andfinished. I have represented the sizein red at the size-vat F. The wireto be sized and finished is placed (in a coil as it comes from thebraiding-machine) upon areel atl. One end of the wireis passed thencebetween the sizing-rolls G H, thence back and forth around the drums orcylinders B G (after the fashion of a crossed pulley-band) severaltimes, and thence onto the reel J, the wire being guided between pinssson bars t t, as clearly shown. The vat F being supplied with the sizingcompound and power being now applied to the reel Jto rotate it the wirewill be drawn through the machine, passing from the reel I, as seen at7a, between the rolls G H, which coat both sides or surfaces of the wirewith the size in the vat. One of the said rolls, G, turns in the mixtureand feeds it onto the periphery of the other roll, El, and the twodeposit it onto the wire. Thence the wire passes over the heatedcylinder B and down under the other heated cylinder, C, back over thefirst-named cylinder, crossing, as shown, and so on back and forth, asclearly seen in the drawings and illustrated by the arrows, a sufficientnumberof times to insure the drying of the sized surface.

I have run the tape or wire different numbers of times over the heatedrolls; but as the rapidity of the drying depends on the temperature ofthe heating medium ofthe drums B C, and on the distance between the saiddrums, and also on whether or not other or additional means of dryingare employed, the operator must determine how many times it is best topass the Wire in contact with the rolls from the surroundingcircumstances. After being thoroughly dried by its passage around thedrums or cylinders, as explained, the wire passes thence off at m ontothe drawing-reel J in a finished condition. The shaft of the reel J maybe adapted to receive spools of a given capacity, which as fast as lledare removed and replaced by empty ones; and the operator, by expertlysecuring the end of a fresh reel of wire each time to the latter end ofthe wirek just unwound from reel I, may keep the machine in constantoperation for any length of time. rBhe size which I have employed hasbeen made of corn or potato starch, and has served well as a mixture forcoating and finishing the surface of the wire; but any other mixturefound suitable may be used without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

I have shown the drums B C as made of copper and heated with steam; butit is obvious that the same effects may be produced by the use of anyother heating medium, or by passing the wire over cold cylinders, when aseries 0f steam-heated tubes or other hot surfaces are arranged adjacentto the wire where it passes back and forth to dry the size upon the wirebefore it is rereeled at J.

It will be understood that by thus passing the braided wire between -therolls G H (which rdeposit on andrpress into the covering of the wire thesizing) and thence back and forth over the heated rolls B C, asexplained, the textile covering or braiding will be thoroughly coatedwith the sizing and lling mixture and smooth` ly finished. l

lt will be seen that by crossing the wire as it passes from one roll orcylinder to the other both sides of the coated wire are alternatelypresented to the drying-surfaces of the drums.

Where the heat is applied to the cylinders over which the wire passes Ideem this method of Stringing up or running the wire the best, though itis evident that the wire may be differently strung up without losing themain advantages derived from my invention.

lf the drums B C are sufficiently long, in lieu of one supply-reel, I,and one take-up reel, J, several supply-reels and as many drawing ortake-up reels may be employed, and a corresponding number of strands maybe simultaneously passed through the machine to undergo the sizingoperation.

It maybe found expedient, inlieu of employing the cloth-covered rolls GH, to pass the wire under a roll or bar so located as to hold the wiredown in the size, and thence between rolls to press in the size andremove the surplus coating supplied to the covering of the wire; or thewire may be passed from the reel I through a bath of starch or size, andthence between two pieces of cloth or other material so arranged as tosqueeze out all surplus sizing before the wire passes to the rolls, overwhich it passes while being dried.

It is obvious that my invention is subject to numerous modifications andmay be carried out in a variety of forms.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, in sizing and finishing covered wire,

(or covered strips of metal of considerable Causing it to passcontinuously through a sizing mixture, and over rolls, or theirequivalents, While subjected to heat, and thence onto a reel or otherreceiver, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 13th day ofMay, 1865.

' w. E. FROST. iL. s]

In presence of J. N. MCINTIRE, ANDREW I. TODD.

